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Brain Drain: Will USCIS Push this Job-Creator Offshore?

"Darash moved to the United States six years ago to study computer science at the University of California at Berkeley. After earning a Ph.D, he started a company, Regpack, that helps organizations process online registrations. He worked 16-hour days for two years to get his startup off the ground. Now, those long hours are paying off. He is attracting investors and adding clients. And he is doing something unusual in a bleak economy: He is creating jobs. He has 15 employees in San Francisco, and plans to hire dozens more. ... He is hands-on about all aspects of the company, from courting new clients to writing code. But lately, Darash has been distracted, spending valuable hours gathering documents and talking to lawyers, instead of running his company. His wife recently flew back to Israel to find housing and a school for their kids in case they have to leave the United States. He describes feeling a range of emotions: anger, fear, frustration. Mostly, though, he is confused. In his homeland of Israel, politicians fight over who can attract more foreign entrepreneurs. The United States, he says, should be rolling out the welcome mat for him, not ushering him out the door. “I could not even comprehend this would become a problem,” he said. “I’m creating a company. I’m creating jobs. There’s nothing bad in what I’m doing and there’s nothing I’m taking away from someone else. The only thing I’m doing is creating more!”" - Gerry Smith, Nov. 9, 2012.